Demi-Titans
by Disney Princess Dani
Summary: Mina Prince has had to work, hard, her whole life to get where she is. Her best frenemy, Ace Menefer, never put in an ounce of effort and easily surpasses her. However, her whole life turns upside down when Theo comes into town and tells her that she is, in fact, a child of Zeus, Ace is a son of Aphrodite, and, oh yeah, monsters are going to try to kill her.
1. Chapter 1: Mina

**Hey, so this is set about fifteen years after PJO ended.**

* * *

Mina

Mina Prince was giggling lightly, aware of what she was doing, when she heard the laughter from across the room. Admittedly, it was a beautiful laughter, not the annoying obnoxious kind that makes everyone regret saying something funny. Mina knew whoever had said the humorous comment, probably a girl, was extremely proud of herself. After all, it was one thing to see Ace Menefer smile, he was always smiling, but to actually make him laugh...

Mina could only wish she could naturally laugh so beautifully, but no, she had to monitor her laugh or she would undoubtedly sound annoying. Her natural laugh was a little too low for her comfort and often ended in a high-pitched squeak, which sounded worse when combined.

She allowed her eyes to travel in Ace's general direction, only to see he was surrounded by her friends and classmates. She forced herself not to roll her eyes in annoyance. Kevin was actually talking with her, something which rarely happened and she had to seize the opportunity to snag him as her date to the next school dance. He was, after all, the most sought after guy at Lawrence Academy, the all boys brother school of her own. Well, the second most sought after boy.

Ace was number one. In fact, he was number one in everything. Captain of the soccer team, spoke three languages, and youngest ever president of the Lawrence-Lexington combined Student Council as a mere seventh-grader, though Mina was sure she was more qualified for the job. When it came to Lexington, Mina held the reins, but she worked for it. Hours were spent preparing her speech for the Lexington class presidency, not to mention her team of poster makers. She studied for hours every day for her straight As, working through both her dyslexia and her ADHD to keep up with her advanced classes. She wasn't on any sports teams, but she had secured the lead villain in the last Lawrence-Lexington stage production, and she had started and headed the Lawrence-Lexington student newsletter. Things just came easily to Ace.

She brushed her long red hair off her shoulder, showing it off for Kevin to notice. His smiled indicated he did indeed notice her beautiful locks. As did a few of the younger girls visiting from the local public school. At the end of every semester, the schools held a combined meet-and-greet to which 'outstanding' students from the near-by public schools were invited, and it was the duty of the leaders of clubs and sports teams to be there to encourage students to apply for scholarships, or even convince their parents to pay the hefty tuition. If Mina hadn't been born of the Prince family, she could have gotten in by scholarship, easily. After all the things she did for the school, she felt she deserved more recognition.

She made a mental note to organize a fund-raiser so that she'd be admitted into Lexington senior high without the need for entrance exams, as the senior high was much more rigorous than the junior high.

However, just after her hair settled onto her shoulders, she noticed a boy. He looked like he should be at the meet and greet for the senior high, not the junior high. At the youngest, he would probably be in ninth grade, too old to apply for the junior high. She figured he was lost.

"Excuse me," she said sweetly to Kevin, and she began to weave her path to the boy. His dark hair fell into his blue-grey eyes, and he had a very handsome face, though it still contained a bit of his soft youth features. She put on a bright smile as she approached. "Hi," she said brightly. "I'm Mina Prince. Anyway I can be of service to you tonight?"

"Oh, Mina, don't offer yourself so easily," Ace's voice sounded next to her and she felt him slip his arm around her shoulders. His fingers began tracing letters on the exposed skin of her upper arm. He looked at the boy. "She's actually very pricey."

Mina took great pleasure in pushing Ace away, though she knew her cheeks were turning pink. She turned back to the boy.

"I'm actually looking for someone," he said. "Ace Menefer, do you know him?"

Ace looked at the boy, a slim blonde eyebrow raised. "Do I know you?" he asked. Ace surveyed the boy up and down a few times.

"I wouldn't suspect it," the boy said. "But if you could just come with me. We have a few things to talk about."

Ace simply laughed again, his brown eyes twinkling. Mina looked away from him back at the boy. "Look, he currently has duties to fulfill to his school," she said. "So, if you're not thinking about applying here, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The boy looked at Mina for a few moments, his eyes narrowing, before he turned around and walked out. Mina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Ace, you attract the weirdest people."

"I attract all people," Ace said, smirking at Mina. "That includes the weirdos, and the beauties." He smiled. "Now, don't you have some girls to convince to apply?"

"I'm sure you were doing a fine job all on your own," Mina said. She turned back toward where she had left Kevin, only to see that he was talking with a few boys who looked like they were athletes. She sighed. There was no use going back there as she would have nothing to say on that subject. "I'm gonna catch some air. Do something useful while I'm gone."

Ace simply chuckled again and ruffled her hair. It was something he did a lot, mostly to remind her how short she was. Mina swatted his arms away and slipped out the door. Lawrence was a prominent school in the neighborhood which attracted students from as far as an hour away because of its facilities, curriculum, and how its graduates nearly always ended up in Ivy leagues. It's halls were filled with framed works of art by previous students, all which were award winning. In between the art were pictures of famous alums. Famous athletes, successful billionaires, senators, even a few famous actors. In good lighting, it tended to make people stop every few feet to appreciate the grandness of the legacy. But Mina had been through the halls many times since she was little, as her father was an alum and was invited to all the events held in the building. As well, because all clubs and activities which involved both schools were held at Lawrence, Mina often had to walk the two blocks after Lexington let out for most of her activities.

Usually, there were at least a couple of people in the halls. Or a teacher. However, the halls were oddly empty as she strutted down, making the click-clack of her shoes echo eerily.

Mina had just walked outside, when a dark body jumped at her. She stumbled backwards, onto a bench. The boy from before stood over her, looking like an axe-murderer. He had no weapon, but his fist was quick and she barely dodged it by scrambling off the bench. She hadn't gotten more than two feet before his foot was connecting with her head. Her vision began to go black before she hit the ground. The last thing she saw was Cruz, Ace's family's personal gopher, running in their direction, looking very odd due to his leg deformities.

* * *

"Are you sure she's not an _empousa_?" Mina heard the boy's voice when she began to stir. She was lying on a bed in what she assumed was the Lawrence infirmary, a bag of ice where the foot had connected.

"Do you really think you could have knocked one out without a weapon?" Cruz questioned. He sounded annoyed, even a little angry. "I watched this girl grow up from the time she was two. She's no monster. I called Chiron because it's time Ace learned who he was."

"I know there was at least one _empousa_ in that room," the boy said. "What other explanation do you have for why she followed me?"

"It's called getting air," Mina said, her voice a lot quieter than she had meant to speak. She was no meek little girl. She opened her eyes and pushed herself to the sitting position. "What the hell is an _empousa_?"

Cruz narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Care to field this, because you're the one that dragged her into this."

The boy rolled his blue-grey eyes, which would have been almost enchantingly beautiful if the boy hadn't been so weird. "My name is Theo Alden," he said. "I came here from Camp Half-Blood because your friend, Ace, is a demigod. I'm to bring him back with me for his own safety."

Mina blinked a few times. She turned to look at Cruz, his arms crossed, his eyes looking much older than his face, as he looked younger than he had to be. She had known him for as long as she could remember, and she couldn't remember him ever aging. "I thought Mrs. Menefer forbid you from doing drugs. I assume this is one of your junkie friends. So, how about you drop him off at the nearest rehab clinic, promise to never shoot up again, and we'll pretend this never happened."

Theo frowned. "Never mind, a mere mortal wouldn't understand."

"Mere mortal?" Mina asked. She lifted an eyebrow. "As if you're some super mortal."

"Demigod, yes, I am," Theo said. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have to make sure that Ace doesn't get himself killed." With that, he walked out.

Mina jumped off the bed, following. "You had better not disturb the meet-and-greet. It's extremely important to the schools."

However, they were not far down the hall when one of the possible applicants appeared at the far end of the hall. She was a pretty girl, wearing a rather cute dress, and had her hair tied up in a bow. Mina was sure she had been one of the girls who had been crowding Ace. Theo stopped in his tracks.

"I believe that you found your _empousa_ ," Cruz said, stepping up beside the boy. "You have a blade on you?"

"Just a dagger," Theo said.

The girl chuckled, ambling forward. The sound of her steps didn't match the flats she was wearing. A clomp, like a hoof, followed by a clunk of metal. "So, you figured me out," she said. She sniffed the air. "Oh, that blood smells delicious. Olympian blood, no doubt. It just smells so delectable."

"Blood?" Theo asked. Then his eyes slid to Mina, still standing behind him and Cruz a few steps. She reached up, and sure enough, she felt something a little wet where her head hurt from being kicked. She pulled her hand back, and it was definitely blood. Before Mina could react, the girl was charging at her, much too quickly for her to react. The girl changed. Her hair set on fire, and her body changed, taking on a donkey leg and a bronze leg. Cruz and Theo both stepped closer together to try to block her. She barely pushed them, but they each went flying toward the wall.

Mina was tackled to the ground. If she had thought Theo was an axe murderer earlier, it was nothing compared to this girl. Mina tried to put up a fight, but she was still dazed from earlier.

"Mina!" Cruz cried out, and he charged the girl. His chauffeur cap, which he always wore but never sat quite right on his head had fallen off. Mina couldn't decide if she should be more concerned about the girl apparently trying to kill her, or that someone she had known for ten years had a huge set of horns on his head she had never noticed. But Cruz knocked the girl off Mina. He reached into his back pocked and pulled out a pocket knife.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing, but then she felt a hand on her arm. She yelped, turning to see it was Theo. "Come on, we need to get out of here." He tugged and pulled her down the hall toward the only open exit. She nearly tripped several times.

"Mina!" She stopped and pulled her arm free from Theo's grip two halls down from where she had left Cruz and the girl when she heard Ace's voice. She looked at him. There was no way he could be a demigod.

"We can't stop," Theo said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her again.

"Hey, let her go," Ace said, but Theo paid him no heed. He kept pulling Mina down the hall, and if his initial goal was to get Ace out of the building, it was working as Ace followed.

By the time they got outside, there were storm clouds in what had been a clear night earlier. They hadn't gone more than a few steps when the girl tore out of the building, sprinted in front of them, cutting off their path.

"No where to run to, son of Athena," she said.

"Jackie?" Ace questioned, clearly seeing her in her new form. He stumbled back, falling onto the same bench Mina had earlier.

"Now, if you'd like to live, you'll leave me these two," Jackie said, snickering.

"Not likely," Theo said, pulling out a bronze colored dagger from his back pocket. "You'll have to kill me first."

Jackie smiled. "In you insist," she said. She charged. Mina couldn't help it, she screamed. And when she did, a bolt of lightning came from the gathering storm clouds, striking Jackie. Jackie was shocked right off the ground for a moment, thrown back several feet. Once again, Mina felt dizzy. Theo didn't notice as he charged Jackie and stabbed the dagger into her chest, as she was also off balance. Then, Jackie dissolved into gold dust and was blown away in the winds.

"Mina!" Ace yelled, but his voice sounded far away. She noticed the world was spinning, or was that her. She felt the sensation of falling, and then felt a pair of arms around her, holding her up as the world faded to black again.


	2. Chapter 2: Ace

**Second chapter is up. The chapters will follow different character, so it'll be Third-person limited. Last chapter was Mina. This one is Ace and the next will be Theo. Anyway, hope you like it.**

* * *

Ace

There was some things that just made sense to Ace. He was gorgeous. He was talented. Mina would always be an important person in his life. Cruz would always be his personal gopher.

A girl that had been giggling around him turning into a creature with mis-matched legs and hair of fire did not make sense. Nor did the fact that lightning stuck as Mina had screamed, almost as if it was responding to her. The weird boy who had appeared at the meet-and-greet was there, but Ace barely registered as he stabbed the girl.

But then she was gone, and there was gold dust in the air.

Ace looked up from where he knelt, having caught Mina. He held her carefully. He had known her all his life, and no one knew him better than she did, not even his parents. He cared for Mina, even if she didn't care for him anymore.

"What just happened?" Ace asked, sweeping Mina's limp body up into his arms. He carried her to the bench and set her down carefully. He noticed a wet spot in her hair, and recognized it as blood some dried, some fresh. "Why is Mina bleeding?"

"Look, we don't have time," the boy said, turning to Ace, his blue-grey eyes darting about. Ace recognized he was trying to detect any threats.

"We need to get Mina help," Ace said. "Never mind you just vaporized someone." He turned to the boy. "Care to explain?"

"Not here," the boy said. "We're too open. Too exposed."

Ace took a deep breath. "Where, then?"

"Come on, to the car." Ace spun around, spotting a slightly beat up Cruz. He stared at the man he had known longer than he remembered. There were horns on his head, coming out from his unruly black curls. Ace opened his mouth, but for once, seemed to have lost his voice. "Well, don't just stand there," Cruz said, scooping Mina into his arms.

* * *

The car was silent for a few minutes, Cruz driving, the boy, who Ace had learned was named Theo, sitting in the passenger seat. Ace was in the back seat, with Mina, who was sprawled across the seat, her head and shoulders on Ace's lap while he dabbed at the cold sweat that had taken her face. Her breathing, which had been labored for a few moments when she had first passed out, had finally evened out and returned to normal.

"So, are you going to tell me what it is that you know that I don't?" Ace finally asked.

"The simple answer," Theo said, turning back to look at him.

"Please," Ace said. He wasn't exactly a simple guy, but he needed a bit of simpleness for the moment.

"You're a demigod," Theo said. "A Half-Blood. A human parent and a godly parent."

Ace looked at Theo for a moment, then turned his eyes to the rear view mirror to look at Cruz's reflection. It was still distorted by the horns. "Do I want to know about..." he tapped his head to indicate the horns. "Please tell me I'm not going to grow those."

"I'm a Satyr," Cruz said. "And I doubt any child of Aphrodite would ever grow any kind of deformity."

"Child of Aphrodite?" Ace asked. "Who is he?" Theo burst out laughing at that comment. Ace frowned. "Seriously, what's so funny?"

"Aphrodite is the Greek _goddess_ of love and beauty," Theo said. " _She_ is your mother."

Ace looked between the two in the front seat. "Uh, no, my mother is Bianca Menefer. Not Afro-Tidy or whoever."

"Aphrodite," Cruz said. "She is your biological mother and a goddess, you should at least give her the respect to say her name correctly."

Ace was silent for a moment. "Are you saying I'm adopted?" he asked. "That my parent's aren't my real parents?"

"Jonathon Menefer is your actual father, but he didn't meet Bianca until you were already born," Cruz said. He chuckled. "In fact, your father used you to lure Bianca in. But, for your safety, your mother asked me to take a job under your family to keep you safe. You were swaying even her mind as a newborn infant so she always figured you'd be a strong demigod."

"Allowing people to blow up in front of me is keeping me safe?" Ace asked.

"Well, we didn't expect Mina to be a Half-Blood as well," Cruz said. "In fact, I don't know how I didn't spot it sooner. Of course, you always did show powers that she never did."

"Powers?" Ace asked. "What powers?"

"Speaking French, your amazing ability to attract people, how people do what you tell them to all the time," Cruz said.

"Wait, he has Charmspeak?" Theo asked.

"What's Charmspeak?" Ace asked. "I'm still very lost."

"You know the myths of the Greek gods?" Theo asked, turning to face his blue-grey eyes toward Ace again. "Like Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon?"

Ace nodded. "Vaguely. Didn't do too well in that subject, but I have seen the movie _Hercules_."

"Well, they're not myths," Theo said. "They're real... all of them. And they still live today, only now they're in America. And many of them have affairs with mortals, and the offspring of those mortals and gods are demigods, Half-Bloods. You are one, the child of Aphrodite. I'm the child of Athena. And Mina is one as well, and if the storm earlier is any indication, she's the daughter of Zeus, so she's a bit of a big deal."

"Big deal?" Ace asked. "In what way?"

"Her father is the king of the gods," Cruz said.

"So, what, it's rare that he fathers children?" Ace asked.

"Very," Theo said. "As of right now, Zeus has only one other living Half-Blood child, but she is a Hunter."

"He won't know what that means," Cruz said.

"It's not important," Theo said. "He'll learn more of that later. Let's stick to the basics."

"Well, let's get packed," Cruz said. He slowed the car as he pulled into a large circular driveway. They had arrived at the Menefer Manor, one of the largest estates in the area. Theo just stared for a moment as Cruz parked and climbed out. Ace gently slid out, allowing Mina to stay in the car.

"What do you mean, pack?" Ace asked once he had closed the door of the car.

"For camp," Cruz said. "Your parents already know that you're going. School's out for the summer, right?"

Ace nodded. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, exams are through with, but we still have a day of classes."

"You can miss a day of signing year books," Cruz said. "Your life is a little more important."

Ace rolled his dark eyes. "Sure, whatever," he mumbled. He started toward his house. A moment later, Theo was next to him. "I can find my way to my own room," Ace said, punching in the code to deactivate the alarm system so he could enter.

"This is your house?" Theo asked.

Ace nodded. "I think that was pretty clear," Ace said, walking in.

"This is a fortress," Theo said. "This could literally house the entire camp." He stared in complete awe at everything as he followed Ace up the staircase and down the hall the Ace's room. Once again, in Ace's room, Theo just stared, his blue-grey eyes taking everything in. "Your room is about the size of my whole apartment."

"Welcome to the other half," Ace said, finding his lacrosse duffle and emptying it out of its contents. He began going through his closet, selecting items he thought he might need.

"Pack good hiking shoes, as well as good fighting shoes," Theo said, noticing that Ace was packing. "And things easy to move around in."

Ace glanced at Theo in annoyance. He knew how to pack. "I don't think anything is going to attack me in my own room," Ace said. "I mean, it couldn't have gotten in with the alarm system on."

"Except by use of magic," Theo said.

Ace sighed again, looking around his closet for his hiking boots he had gotten for his spring break camping trip he went on with his friends. He tossed his newest sandals into his bag, price tag still on. He grabbed polos and his fitted jeans that came with the holes already in just the right places.

Once he was almost finished, he walked to his bed to grab his favorite pillow, when he stopped as he glanced out the window. He grabbed the pillow before turning around and running out the door to his room.

"Ace?" Theo questioned, but Ace didn't respond. Mina had woken up and had climbed out of the car. Rather than come into his house looking for him or Cruz, she was wandering toward the gate of the property.

He pounded down the stairs, jumping with three left so he landed at the bottom of the staircase. He heard Theo behind him, but Mina was his concern. If what Theo and Cruz were saying was true, though Ace wasn't fully set to believe them yet, and Mina was a demigod, then she could be in danger. With her head already hurt, and how she had passed out fifteen minutes earlier, he didn't want to take any chances that she could be attacked.

"Mina!" he called for her as he opened the door. She had almost made it to the gate, as she was merely ambling. Ace dropped his pillow as he passed the car and sprinted toward her.

Mina turned to him, clearly still dazed. She cocked her head at him as he caught up to her. "Why are we here?" she asked. "I can't..."

"It's okay, Mina," Ace said, taking her hand and leading her back further into the property.

However, they hadn't gotten more than a few feet in when there was a little growling from the open gate. Ace paused for a moment, before turning to see what was there. He had been hoping for a pit bull or some other type of dog. He had not expected a giant, black mutt with large globs of drool dripping from the mouth.

Clearly, Mina saw what he did as well, as she let out an ear-piercing scream.

And the giant hound came running at them, though they were only a few steps away. Ace pulled Mina closer to him pulling her to the ground and rolled on top of her so he could use his body to shield her. He was also pretty sure he was about to die.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are always appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3: Theo

Theo

Theo hadn't had time to question Ace as the boy tore out of his own room. The demigod son of Athena quickly fell behind, and nearly got lost in the house. As it was, Theo had never been in a house so large in his life and wondered what one small family could use it all for. It was big enough to house most of the campers at Camp Half-Blood.

It was only by his great memory that Theo managed to find his way back to the front door. By the time he got there, however, he saw that Ace and Mina had managed to get into trouble. A huge Hell Hound was at the gate of the estate.

Theo didn't have time to run to them. And even if he was as fast as a child of Hermes, he only had a small dagger on him, not enough to truly wound a Hell Hound the size of a tank.

He quickly came up with a plan.

He jumped on the car and whistled loudly just as the Hell Hound began to charge. It looked up at him, suddenly ignoring Ace and Mina. It ran right over them, knocking Ace over in the process, but nothing that would fatally wound him.

Theo knew he had one shot. He drew his arm back and flung it forward, dagger flying from his hand just as Chiron had taught him. It flew through the air and by some miracle, lodged itself into the Hell Hound's left eye. Theo then scrambled off the car to the far side. It wasn't graceful, but between his life and being graceful, Theo chose his life.

The Hell Hound wasn't fooled and jumped onto the car, smashing the roof in, and growled down at Theo. Theo looked up with his blue-grey eyes, noticing the blood and eye fluids dripping from where his dagger was lodged into its eye. Oh, how he wanted to just reach up and grab it, but he knew he'd never be fast enough and still get away with his arm still attached to his body.

Theo rolled to the side, putting him out of view of the Hell Hound. He just had to stay on the Hell Hound's left side. Sure, it would still be able to smell him, but without sight, it would still have a hard time attacking him.

Theo kept as light on his feet as he could, but also stayed fast. For once, he knew it was safer to stay closer to the monster than further. As long as he could stay a step ahead, he'd be safe.

"Holy Mother of Hera!" Cruz yelled. Theo glanced at him, before ducking under the swatting paw of the Hell Hound. Luckily, Cruz had a sword on him.

"A little help!" Theo yelled. The Hell Hound snapped at Theo, but the son of Athena dodged back, his back against a tree. He grabbed a large stick and swatted at the monster. It hardly seemed to notice and jumped at Theo again, apparently not noticing the tree, because as Theo dodged, barely, the Hell Hound knocked its head into the tree hard.

Momentarily stunned, Theo took the opportunity to jump up, enough to grab onto the lowest branch. He quickly pulled himself up and from there, climbing was pretty easy. He quickly was high enough that he was out of the Hell Hound's reach.

Looking out again, he noticed that Mina was sitting, staring slack-jawed at the scene before her, and Ace was trying to convince her to move. This worried Theo that the Hell Hound may lose interest in him and turn towards them again.

A slur of Spanish curses came from Cruz's mouth as he charged the Hell Hound, sword flailing. Theo doubted that the Satyr would actually strike the beast the way he was moving, but it sure worked as a distraction.

Theo knew he had to think and fast. What he had, what he didn't. He reached into his pockets, figuring out what he had. Not much. A notepad, a pencil, a rubber band, a half-eaten package of M&Ms...

His eyes flashed. M&Ms... chocolate. He knew that it was deadly to dogs, but would the same hold true for Hell Hounds?

He quickly fashioned a slingshot, and tested it out. He'd need the Hell Hound facing him and a lot of luck to get any of the M&Ms into its mouth, but there was no use to not try.

Theo whistled, hoping to get the Hell Hound's attention, but it didn't work. Either it didn't hear him, or it just didn't care. So, he took a deep breath and whistled again, this time louder and sharper.

The Hell Hound turned to him again, fixing his right eye at Theo. Theo smiled. Half-blinded, he'd have a lot more luck if it couldn't dodge the M&Ms, if it even saw them. He shot the first one, and it bounced off a tooth. The Hell Hound barked, but apparently didn't realize that Theo had shot anything. So, he reloaded and shot again.

This was was a direct hit, right into the mouth and hitting the dog's tongue. The Hound coughed, but mostly because something small had flown in its mouth.

"Kill it, Cruz!" Ace yelled, drawing the attention away from Theo again. It was now staring down the two defenseless Half-Bloods.

Cruz charged the beast from Hades, but it was more interested in Olympian blood. Theo jumped from the tree, hoping to draw the beast again, but it didn't work. So, he had one last plan up his sleeve. "Be ready to stab it, Cruz," Theo yelled.

"I'm already trying to do just that," Cruz yelled, slashing at the Hound.

Theo grabbed the pencil and snapped it in half, creating a sharp edge. He'd be an idiot to try to blind the other eye, but he could distract the Hell Hound with fresh Olympian blood rather than Mina's dried blood. He slashed down his arm, quickly drawing blood.

The dog's nose went into the air.

Cruz was shocked, but Ace didn't hesitate. He grabbed the sword from Cruz and shoved it straight up, into the Hell Hound's jaw and up into it's brain. It dripped a bit of ichor before turning into gold dust.

"I... wha...?" Mina was shuddering in fear.

"Hell Hound," Theo said. He was done explaining for the moment. He walked to the wreckage of the car and managed to pull out a small bag that had been on the passenger seat. He took a small bit of ambrosia and nibbled a bit, to stop his arm from continuing to bleed. He then held out a piece for Mina.

"What is that?" Ace asked, eyeing it as Mina was still too shocked to move or form complete sentences.

"Ambrosia," Theo said. "For healing. Food of the gods."

"I'm not a god," Mina said, staring at Theo's offering.

"That cut on your head is just going to cause trouble for you," Theo said. He held up his arm, where the cut he had created was smaller. Still there, what had healed was still red and puckered, but clearly more healed than it otherwise would have been had he not taken some Ambrosia.

Mina slowly reached out and took the small bit of Ambrosia from him. She just stared at it.

"You're supposed to eat it," Theo said as she just stared at it.

Mina took a deep breath, then plopped it into her mouth. After a moment, she smiled at the taste. "OMG, that's delicious," she said after swallowing. "Can I have some more?"

"No!" Cruz snapped as she held out her hand for another bite.

"Too much of it will burn your humanity away," Theo explained.

"What does it taste like?" Ace asked, obviously interested.

"It's unique to everyone," Theo said. "But, whatever your favorite food is, that's what you will taste."

Ace smirked at Mina. "So, what did you taste?" he asked. "Probably my lips, right?"

"Ew, no," Mina shook her head. She crossed her arms. "And I am _so_ nawt telling you."

"Anyway, I think we should really get back to Camp Half-Blood," Theo said, a small frown forming on his lips. "Two monster attacks in one day. Call me suspicious, but I think that someone is aware of the two of you."

"How do you plan on us getting there?" Cruz asked. He motioned to the smashed car. "And how do I explain this to my employers?"

Ace chuckled. "As if we only have the one car," he said.

"One _I'm_ allowed to drive," Cruz reminded the boy.

"Just take another one," Ace said. "My parents won't notice."

"We'll get the car towed to the camp," Theo said. "The boys of Cabin Nine will fix it up."

"Cabin Nine?" Mina asked. "What are they, mechanics?"

"Children of Hephaestus," Theo said. "They can fix anything. That car will be like putty in their hands and give them something to do."

"If there is anything wrong with it, I will lose my job," Cruz said.

Theo lifted a dark eyebrow at him. "You're a Satyr. Your job is to protect demigods."

"My job is to protect him," Cruz said pointing at Ace. "Unfortunately, his mother does not pay very well, but his step-mother pays very well."

Theo rolled his eyes. "Let's just go," he said.

"We still need to stop at Mina's house," Ace said, pointing at the girl.

"No, we need to get to camp where we will be safe," Theo said.

"Okay, um, no," Mina said. "I'm not going to any camp."

"Then we're just going to have to kidnap you," Theo said. "Mina, you're a demigod child of Zeus. You have no training, and nearly were _killed_ twice tonight. And now that you know, you're even more at risk."

"You have no proof of this," Mina said. "And I'm pretty sure my father is _nawt_ Zeus."

"The proof that the Ambrosia didn't kill you is enough for me," Theo said.

Her hands went to her house. "I am going home, and you can't stop me," she said turning around.

"Mina," Ace said, grabbing her wrist. "Please..."

Mina just laughed. "Let me go, Ace," she said.

"Only if you agree to come with us," he said.

"I could always knock you out again," Theo said.

Mina rolled her dark eyes. "As if," she said. She pulled her arm free from Ace's grasp and began toward the gate.

"Do it," Cruz said to Theo.

"No!" Ace snapped. He followed her, still carrying Cruz's sword. "Mina, think about it."

"What is there to _think_ about?" Mina asked. "He's crazy. And, notice how there were no monsters _before_ he showed up? I'm going home, and tomorrow, I'm going to come up with a _great_ excuse as to why I disappeared from the Meet and Greet... for the _both_ of us. You're welcome."


	4. Chapter 4: Mina

Mina

Mina was aware that Ace was following her as she walked back to her house. She was also aware that he had a glowing sword in his hand. However, she didn't talk to him, and he didn't say a word.

The absence of clomping hooves made her aware that Cruz was _not_ following, and that was good in her opinion. She didn't want to have to deal with him _or_ Theo.

The walk to her house was spent in silence. She didn't talk, and Ace didn't bother her the way he usually did. She arrived at her house to see that the lights were on. Through a window, she saw her mother on a phone, pacing back and forth. She noticed a distress on her mother's face and knew that she was the reason. She was supposed to be home hours earlier.

Upon entering her house, her mother gave out a cry and fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around Mina's small frame. "I was so worried, Mina," her mother said, burying her face in the shoulder of Mina's dirty shirt. Mina knew she looked like a piece of work. Soot from the lightning. Dirt from when Ace had tackled her to the ground. Her hair from the blood from having been knocked out by Theo.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Mina said, allowing her mother to hug her. "I..."

"She came over to my house," Ace said, having followed her in. Mina looked back at him and noticed he no longer had the sword. He was a little dirty too, but not nearly as bad as she was. "Cruz was late, so we walked."

"You should have called," Mrs. Prince said, releasing Mina and giving Ace a hug as well. She closed the door. "Will you be staying the night, Ace? I know your mother left for Egypt this morning. Or are you just waiting for Cruz?"

"I'll spend the night, if that's okay," Ace said, smiling. "Anyway, I'm heading to camp tomorrow morning." He glanced at Mina quickly, before adding, "Mina wanted to come too."

"Excuse me?" Mina snapped, her eyes widening. "I don't recall-"

"Oh, Mina, camp sounds like a great idea," her mother said. "You were saying you were looking for something to do this summer."

"Yeah, but I was thinking more along the lines of a cruise in Alaska or a nice Bahamas vacay," Mina said.

"What, darling, are you going to do in the Bahamas?" Mr. Prince asked walking into the front hall. He hugged Mina around her shoulders. "Swim, alone... tan, alone. You can't go to any clubs and your friends will all be off doing who knows what." He clapped his hand on Mina's shoulder.

"Oh, Daddy, I can have fun with you and Mom," Mina said.

"I actually just got a call from a camp director by the name of Mr. Brunner," Mr. Prince continued on. "Seemed like a nice fellow. He said that he got all the paperwork, but it was only missing our signature."

"Paperwork?" Mina asked.

"Why didn't you tell us you had signed up for a camp, sweetheart," Mrs. Prince asked.

"Because I-"

"It was a surprise," Ace said before she could get a word out. "She thought that you two could use some alone time. Go on a vacation. A couples cruise..."

Mina shot Ace a glare.

"Anyway, I gave Mr. Brunner the okay for you to go," Mr. Prince said. "He's faxing over some paperwork and I'm going to fax it back with my signature."

"Oh, let's get you packed," Mrs. Prince said, taking her daughter's hand to pull her up the stairs.

An hour later, Mina walked into the guest room Ace always used when he spent the night. Her hands were on her hips and she was frowning, but clean from her recent shower and wearing a night gown featuring the Hogwarts crest that fell to her knees, and a pair of shorts that weren't visible. Then she noticed Theo sitting on the chair.

"What is _he_ doing here?" she asked, pointing at him.

"We sneaked him in while you were showering," Ace said, smiling his brightest smile at her. Having been told that his mother was Aphrodite, Mina could understand why he looked the way he did, and why girls fell at his feet for no apparent reason.

"And how dare you call my father, pretending to be some camp director," Mina accused Theo. "Now I _have_ to go."

"Oh, that wasn't me," Theo said. "That was Chiron."

"Who is Chiron?" Mina asked.

"He's the immortal centaur, trainer of heroes, like Hercules and Percy Jackson."

"Who?" Mina asked.

"Right, never heard of him," Theo nodded as if that was a common response. "Point is, you need to go to this camp. You need to train as a hero and learn to control your powers because you are a daughter of Zeus."

"No, my parents, both of them, are down the hall," Mina said. She looked at Ace. "Tell him he's mistaken."

Ace looked at Theo for a moment, then at Mina. "Have you ever noticed that you don't have any of your father's features? Not even his ears. You're more like a clone of your mother."

Mina growled. "Whatever, I'll go to your stupid camp for a few days before they figure you that you were mistaken."

"Hey, I don't know if you remember this, but the Empousa passed right by me and went for you, as if I was nothing," Theo said. He pointed at himself. "I'm a son of Athena. I'm sort of a big deal. But she went for you, which means you're either the daughter of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades. And the random storm and lightning makes me think Zeus. So, I'm not leaving here without you."

"And why would that make a difference?" Mina asked.

"Because you're one of the children of the Big Three," Theo said. "They're rare, but they're the most powerful. And when you suck it up and accept what you are, you'll find that you can do amazing things, Mina. Things you never dreamt of. Channel lightning, direct winds, some children of Zeus can even fly."

"What makes you think I want to be a superhero?" Mina asked.

"No, you'll be more than that," Theo said standing. "Mina, you'll be a demigod."

"So, all the work, but none of the recognition?" Mina asked. "I'll save the world and won't even get a thank you?"

"Hopefully you won't have to," Theo said. "It's not like the world needs to be saved every other year. We mainly need training for the monsters on the loose. After all, it takes creatures hundreds, if not thousands of years to reform and escape Tartarus. Seeing as the Titans were defeated fifteen years ago, and the Giants were defeated shortly after, we should be in the clear for at least few hundred years."

"I don't want to even know," Mina said. "I'm just going to go to bed, and hope you're gone in the morning."

They weren't gone in the morning. Well, at least Ace wasn't. Mina dragged herself down to the dining room to see it was set with a small breakfast. Eggs, fruits, pancakes, sausage, bacon, orange juice. Ace had a nice helping of everything except for fruit. Mina spooned a few grapes and a slice of a grapefruit onto her plate.

"You'll need to eat more than that for you first day at camp," Mrs. Prince said, spotting what her daughter was planning on eating.

"If there was something else healthy here, I'd eat it," Mina said.

"A good breakfast _is_ healthy," Mrs. Price said.

"It's not necessarily what you eat, but how you eat it," Ace said. "Anyway, with the exercise we'll get at camp, we'll need the extra calories."

Mina frowned, but scooped a small helping of eggs onto her plate as well.

Just as they were all finishing their food, there was a knock at the door. Mina half expected to find Theo, so she was relatively relieved to find it was Cruz, sans horns. Maybe she had dreamt that part up.

"Good morning, Mrs. Prince," Cruz said smiling and gave a small nod of respect. "I'm here to collect Ace and Mina. Sorry I wasn't around for him last night, but I had some car trouble."

"Oh, it's no problem," Mrs. Prince said. She handed Cruz Mina's packed bag before giving her daughter a hug and a kiss. Mina then trudged to the car he had chosen.

"Tinted windows to hide the crazy guy, I see," Mina said, crawling into the backseat to find Theo.

"I did save your life," Theo said. "Twice, if I recall."

"And what is with your shirt?" Mina asked. He was wearing an orange shirt that read Camp Half-Blood on it.

"Oh, it's the official camp shirt," Theo said. "Everyone there wears it."

"Orange isn't my color," Mina said.

"Your point being?" Theo asked.

"She's saying that she's not going to wear it," Ace said, buckling his seat belt.

"This is all stupid," Mina said. "You're crazy, and Ace, you're crazy for believing him."

"Mina, if there was anyone I thought would be into something like this, I thought it would be you," Ace said.

"Really, and why is that?" Mina asked.

"Because you love fantasy," Ace said. "Basically, you thought you were a Muggle, and now you're finding out you're a witch. Only, instead of Muggle and witch, it's mortal and demigod. Instead of wands, we get swords."

"And instead of Voldemort, you get Cronus, who is not coming back for a long time," Theo added.

"Whatever," Mina said, her eyes looking out the window. But she hadn't even considered that this was something she had actually been hoping for for a long time. It just came to her in an unexpected way, at an unexpected time. She had been sure that when she turned twelve and hadn't received a Hogwarts letter, her dreams of magical adventures were over. Apparently, however, they were just beginning.


	5. Chapter 5: Ace

**Hey, for all those following along at home... I would suspect most of you... please feel free to comment and leave a review. Some of our old friends (the seven, Thalia, Nico, etc.) will make appearances eventually, even though they will be in their thirties or so (or late twenties in Nico's case... and still perpetually at 15 for Thalia). So, please, keep reading on.**

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Ace

Mina spent the whole car ride without saying a word, but Ace couldn't hear enough. He and Theo had talked long into the night before Theo sneaked out of Mina's house. Now, Ace was asking more questions.

What kind of powers did other demigods have? How many were at camp? There were two camps and what was the other like? Chiron was a centaur? Capture the flag games? Weapons training? Climbing wall? Sacrifices to the gods?

The idea of a quest had already caught Ace's attention. "When do I get to go on a quest?"

"Oh, uh, it's not like a sign-up sheet," Theo said. "The quest more picks the demigod than anything else. Or demigods more often than not. More likely, when you're trained, you might get a mission. That's what I'm on. My mission was to bring you to camp."

"So, the Oracle of Delphi didn't send you?" Ace asked.

"No, your mother told Mr. D to choose a camper to send to get you," Theo said. "Mr. D relayed the message to Chiron and Chiron chose me. I mean, he consulted Rachel, but it wasn't exactly a quest."

"And Rachel is...?"

"The Oracle," Theo said.

"Then shouldn't she live in Greece?" Mina finally spoke up, but still in her aggravated tone. I was a tone that Ace had become accustomed to over the past several years though she often hid it from those she didn't know well, so Ace was surprised she was using it in front of Theo, even if it did seem directed at the son of Athena.

"If you had been listening, everything follows the gods," Ace said, proud to have remembered. "Gods moved to America, then so did the Oracle."

"And the monsters," Mina added. "Funny you forgot that part seeing as we encountered a few yesterday." She turned to Theo. "And funny how they found us only after you came around."

"Mina, we already went over this," Ace said. "We've got a specific scent."

"So he says," Michelle said. "I honestly believe he's still crazy."

"They may have only just found you," Theo said. "But, the Empousa was there before me. And the Hell-Hound, who knows where he came from. Anyway, even if they didn't smell you before, they will now. Once a demigod knows what he or she is, their scent becomes stronger."

"How does that work?" Michelle asked.

"That would be part of the Mist," Cruz said from up front. "Once you're aware of the Mist, you can start to see through it. And when you notice things, they notice back."

"We're getting close," Theo said, looking out the windows. Ace sat up straighter, looking out as well. However, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He thought that maybe he's see a pegasus in the sky, or a row of statues of the gods, or alters. But, it all just looked like the last few miles had been.

"Where are we?" Ace asked after another minute.

"Long Island," Theo said.

"You're telling me that of all the places in the United States that the gods could have set up a camp, they chose Long Island?" Mina asked. "What's wrong with, say, Miami? Or Southern California."

"It's close to Olympus," Theo said.

"Um, Olympus is in Greece... and not a real place," Mina said.

"Olympus is in New York," Ace said. He turned to Theo. "Right?"

"Five-hundreth floor of the Empire State Building," Theo said with a nod.

"The Empire State Building is not that tall," Mina said. "In fact, no building is that tall."

Cruz slowed down when they approached a sign that read Delphi Strawberry Services. However, when Ace looked again, it read Camp Half-Blood. His eyes lit up and he smiled. "Were here, right?"

"Just about," Cruz said. He pulled to a stop at the bottom of a hill. "You three go on ahead. I'll park the car and bring your things in."

Ace was out the door before Cruz finished talking. He scrambled up the hill, not even looking back. He saw the massive pine tree, Thalia's Pine, that Theo had told him about. There was a golden fleece on a branch, and he knew he'd see the dragon guarding it as soon as he got to the top.

However, when he got there, there was no dragon. He turned to look, his eyes scanning the area, even up, but he didn't see any dragon. Then he noticed the smoke, and turned toward the camp. A few of the buildings he could see were smoking. He didn't see a bunch of kids running around wearing orange shirts, as Theo had led him to believe. There were, however, a few blankets on the ground.

Then he spotted one girl with long white blonde hair, maybe a year or two older, walking toward a person lying on the ground. Until the girl placed the blanket down over the other person... or rather the body.

"Oh gods," Theo gasped, reaching Ace's side, before he went sprinting down.

The girl looked up, noticing movement. "Theo!"

"Ingrid," Theo called, running to her. He lowered his voice, because Ace could see he was still talking, but couldn't hear. The girl, Ingrid Ace assumed, threw her arms around Theo when they were close enough, and seemed to be crying into his shoulder.

"Really?" Ace heard Mina next to him. "This is it?"

"Something happened," Ace said. He shook his head. "I think something terrible happened."

"I thought that Cruz and he said that this would be the safe place for us," Mina said. She gave Ace a smug look. "Guess they were wrong." With that, she began walking down the hill.

"It's not funny, Mina," Ace said. He was walking by her side a moment later.

Ace noticed Theo gesture to him and Mina, and the girl, Ingrid turned to look at them. Now that they were closer to the cabins, Ace was aware of a few other campers, though not as many as he had expected. Aside from Ingrid and the dead bodies, all the others were looking at him and Mina from within cabins, and all looked to be rather young.

Ingrid, herself, was a pretty girl with pale skin. Her long hair was in a braid that fell over her left shoulder, but Ace couldn't see her eyes as her face was turned down. What surprised him was a fresh cut on her right cheek. Theo, still not really in earshot, said something to the girl and reached up, touching the cut.

She shook her head at what he said, and instead turned to Mina and Ace. Ace stopped in his tracks. Despite her cut, she was beautiful. And definitely a bit older as Ace was only thirteen himself and she looked to be in her mid-teens.

"I'm sorry you have to see camp like this," she said, her voice shaking.

"What happened?" Ace asked.

Ingrid shook her head for a moment. "We were attacked," she said. "Last night, while everyone was asleep. Ambushed. They hit a few cabins with only one camper before they snuck into cabins five and six..."

Theo's eyes widened. "Lisa," he gasped and ran to one of the cabins.

"What was that about," Mina asked.

"Lisa is his little sister," Ingrid said. "She's only eight, and Theo is way over-protective of her." She reached up and wiped at her eyes, to prevent herself from crying. "It was horrible. Whoever they were, the crossed the border without a problem, and they knew exactly where to attack and who to take out first." Her body shuddered.

"But, you defeated them..." Ace said. "Right?"

She shook her head. "They slipped away just before Dawn."

"What did Chiron say?" Ace asked.

Ingrid shuddered again and this time couldn't stop the tears. "We don't know where he is," she said. "They may have taken him, or even..."

"Oh, great, so instead of a safe haven, Theo dragged us to certain death," Mina said, rolling her dark eyes.

Ingrid slapped Mina before Ace could even think to reprimand her. "Who do you think you are?"

"She's a daughter of Zeus," Theo's voice came from where he had disappeared, this time carrying a small girl with her arms wrapped around his neck. She almost appeared to be asleep, though her grey eyes were on Ace and Mina, almost as if studying them. "And Ace is your brother, Ingrid."

"Oh..." Ingrid seemed a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry I struck you," she said.

"Don't be," Ace said. He eyed Mina, who was still in shock from being slapped. "She deserved it."

"We should really do something about that cut, Ingrid," Theo said. "A little ambrosia..."

"There is none," Ingrid said. "They raided the ambrosia and nectar before they even began attacking. I mean, Jack had a little, but we couldn't waste it on a little cut like this." She gestured to her face. "What we had, we used."

"We should get it cleaned and bandaged," Theo said. He looked around. "Where are the other counselors?"

Ingrid shook her head. "Jaime is in the Big House helping to bandage and heal," she said. "But... the others... you were gone and I barely could get my Charmspeak to work."

Ace looked around. With the number of cabins, it sounded as if Theo, Ingrid, and whoever Jaime were the cabin heads to survive.

"With all these cabins... how can only..." Ace began.

"They weren't all occupied," Theo said.

"And not all the summer campers arrived yet," Ingrid said. "Marigold just arrived this afternoon, a little before you."

"You need to get that cleaned," Theo said.

"It's a scratch," Ingrid said.

"It's an infection waiting to happen," Theo said. He looked at Ace. "Convince her."

"What do you mean convince her?" Ace asked. "How."

"Tell her," Theo said. "Cruz said you have Charmspeak."

Ingrid almost cracked a smile. "Boys don't get Charmspeak, Theo."

"Just do it, Ace," Theo said. "It'll get infected."

Ace looked at Theo for a moment, then back at Ingrid. "That cut does look bad," he said. "You really should get it cleaned, at least."

"Not until everything is done," Ingrid said.

"No, seriously, get it cleaned," Ace said.

Ingrid narrowed her eyes. "No."

Ace didn't allow her to sway his thoughts. "Get it bandaged," he said. "Now! You know you need to."

Ingrid looked like she might still defy him, but instead turned and headed toward what Ace assumed was the Big House as it looked like a big house.

* * *

 **And don't forget to review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Theo

**Sorry if it's been a while since I posted. I actually have, like, the next four chapters already written and ready to go.**

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Theo

Theo felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest. It wasn't the first time either.

The first time he had been twelve, and was convinced that he was a son of Ares. After all, he had been raised by a single mother with no mention of a father ever. But then he was claimed by Athena after a game of capture the flag that he had planned the attack for. He was so distraught and convinced that it was wrong-after all, he had a mother-that he ran away from camp back to his home. It was then that his mother admitted she was in fact actually his sister, and their father had died when he was just a baby.

The second time was when Timothy, the guy that had first found him as a Half-Blood and had been his friend, went to college, only to be killed by alcohol poisoning. Theo had sworn after hearing what had happened that he would never have alcohol. At fifteen, he hadn't exactly had many chances, but in high school he knew the opportunity would arrive.

But to see the camp so broken, so many bodies. "How did they get Patrick?" he asked, dabbing a little anti-septic on Ingrid's cheek. She hissed in pain, but didn't argue. They were sitting on the porch as most of the Big House was filled with injured with only four Apollo campers to do all the healing. Three were practically tapped out.

"They snuck into the Ares cabin unheard," Ingrid said. "He was only awake long enough to die." She was quiet. "They snuck into your cabin too, and if Lisa hadn't woken when she did..."

"He was standing over your bed," Lisa said.

"I think they meant to kill you in your sleep, like they did so many others," Ingrid said.

"Why me?" Theo asked.

Ingrid stared at him. "You're joking, right?" she asked. "You're the only one that could take on Patrick, him with his sword and you with that Swiss Army knife you call a dagger."

"You did get that into that Hellhound's eye last night," Ace said.

"You fought a Hellhound last night?" Ingrid asked as Theo reached for the anti-bacterial ointment. "And what happened to your arm?"

"I cut it to distract the Hellhound from him," Theo said. "Fresh blood. But as you can see, I cleaned it and bandaged it."

"And you had ambrosia," Ingrid said. What little ambrosia Theo had left the night before had been distributed to those that needed it the most. It was not nearly enough to actually heal them, but it certainly helped.

"Where did that girl go?" Ingrid asked, noticing Mina was not with them.

"She's in there, still," Ace said. "She volunteered at a hospital a few times over the past year, and wants to see her candy stripes in action."

"Is that so?" Ingrid questioned. "So she is only doing it for herself."

"That's how Mina works," Ace said. "But if she can help in any way, right?"

Theo took a few small bandaids and used them to keep the cut closed, if nothing more. "I'm going to see if there is anything I can do to help inside," he said. He looked at Ingrid. "Could you show Ace to his... your cabin? And take Lisa with you."

"Sure thing," Ingrid said with a nod. She reached out a hand to took Lisa's small one.

"Hold still, will you?" Mina's voice was heard in one off the rooms. She was wrestling with Arianna, a daughter of Hermes. Arianna's arm was in a sling and she had a few bruises.

"I don't trust you," Arianna said, trying to fight off Mina with one arm.

"You need to pop your arm back into place," Mina snapped.

Arianna's brown eyes found Theo. "Theo, tell this crazy-Ahh!" In her distraction, Mina had popped Arianna's dislocated arm back into place. "I'm gonna kill... hey, I can move my arm again."

"Told you I knew what I was doing," Mina said, rolling her blue eyes. "See, better."

"It still hurts," Arianna said.

"Yeah, well that's because it was dislocated for eight hours," Mina said. She huffed. "Honestly." She put her hands on her hips. "Seriously, I try to help your friends and this is the thanks I get?" She looked at Arianna. "You can move along now."

"How about you move along," Arianna said. "Who do you think you are, flouncing in here and trying to take over?"

"I'm the daughter of Zeus," Mina said. "King of the gods. So, that makes me, what, a princess?"

Theo lifted an eyebrow as Arianna laughed.

"Do yourself a favor and never say that again," Arianna said. She looked at Theo. "I thought you were picking up a son of Aphrodite."

"Would you believe me that they were neighbors?" Theo asked. He had picked up on the fact that Ace believed they were friends and Mina did not, and in an effort to not piss off Mina, he figured neighbors was the best way to refer to them. They did live rather close to one another.

"Oh, don't you love the way the Fates play the world?" Arianna said. She hopped off her bed. "Now, I'm going to see if there is anything I can do to help." She looked at her feet. "Have they begun to prepare for the funeral pyre?"

Theo took a deep breath and shook his head. "I guess I ought to."

"I'll see if we have the proper shrouds," Arianna said. "Or, at least enough of them." With that, Arianna left.

"I am sorry," Mina said a moment after Arianna was gone.

"About?" Theo asked.

"What happened," Mina said. "I mean, I don't know anyone here, but it's not... I mean, a lot of people died."

Theo nodded, but didn't say anything. "I should have been here," he said. "I could have..."

"Died," Mina said.

"You don't know that," he said. "Maybe if I was here, not so many would have died."

"Look, I may not have been here for long," Mina said. "But I still have studied Greek Mythology. I heard that not even the Ares kids fared well against these mystery people, so assuming that they are anything like their father, they should be great warriors." She brushed some of her hair back behind her ear. "So, maybe the Fates needed you to not be here. Because, don't forget, you did save my life... and Ace's. If you had been here, maybe that would be three more demigods dead."

With that, Mina turned out of the room, heading to see if there was anyone else she could help. But he didn't have much time to think about what she had said. There were things to be done. Preparations for a funeral, and someone had to be in charge. Someone also had to check on Rachel. Attempt to contact Camp Jupiter. The list was never ending, and he knew a lot of it would fall on his shoulders.

He walked into the hallway and nearly into Jaime before he stopped. Jaime looked exhausted. "You need to rest," Theo said. "I can't imagine that there are still those that need magical healing."

Jaime shook his head, his black hair falling about his face so different from its usual spiked style. "I don't know," he said.

"The sun is still out," Theo said. "Why don't you take an hour or so to recharge. You need it."

"There are still more injured..." he said.

"And we don't need you to pass out from exhaustion," Theo said, turning Jaime towards the door.

"Just let me check on Arianna," Jaime said, resisting. "Her arm was injured."

"She's okay," Theo said. "It was just dislocated and that has been remedied. All I need from you now is to tell me where Mr. D is."

"I don't know," Jaime said. "We were attacked and he didn't show. Nor did Chiron." He looked at Theo. "You don't suppose that they killed him, do you?"

"I don't know," Theo said. "I'll check his office and see if there is anything in it." With that, he got Jaime out the door.

Once in Chiron's office, he stopped. There was a large pile of shrouds, more than enough for the campers that had been killed, and on top of it a note.

 _We figured that we'd leave these for you if any of you survived. Good luck on finding your teacher before we kill him. - The Demi-Titans._


	7. Chapter 7: Mina

**Thanks for reading and enjoy! I've got a fun adventure planned out for our three heroes, and they will be running into a few of our favorites from the actual books... At least, older forms of them.**

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Mina

Hours after arriving at Camp Half-Blood, Mina felt awkward standing next to Ace as several of the campers lit the funeral pyre. Twenty-three campers in all had been killed. And still, none of those that survived could give much information about those that had attacked.

Those injured were all on the path of recovery, which Mina guessed was good. However, plenty didn't want to even stay in the cabins they were assigned to. Too many painful memories, Mina supposed. She hadn't gone into any of the cabins that had had an attack. In fact, aside from the Big House and the dining pavilion, the only building she had been in was her own.

After a few moments, while Ingrid was saying a few words about a girl that had been from the Hebe cabin, Mina turned away and began to walk off. She didn't know anyone that had died, and those that had survived didn't seem to like her.

"The least you could do is show a little respect to those that died," Ace said, next to her a moment later. His voice was quiet, like he was making sure he wasn't overheard.

"I don't feel welcome," Mina said. "I mean, yes, it's sad they died, but... I don't know."

"Stay for me," Ace said. She looked at him and saw a bit of pain in his brown eyes.

"Not like you knew any of them either," Mina said. She looked away again and began toward her cabin again.

"No, but they are people that could have been our friends, Mina," Ace said. "Could have helped train us. Could have, been people that we could have come to love."

"Like you'd love anyone but yourself?" Mina questioned looking at Ace. "That's a riot."

Ace stopped walking. "Fine, if you want to be that way." He turned around and began back toward the funeral. Mina was concentrating on ignoring him, but couldn't help glancing back at him as she was nearing the cabins. She noticed that Ace was looking at her, but then realized his eyes were focused on something just past her. She heard a soft sound that she couldn't place, before she heard Ace shout her name. He was running back towards her, so Mina turned to see what he was looking at.

Standing atop the nearest cabin was a boy, mostly covered in darkness, though she could make out his blonde hair, his one blue eye, and one brown eye. He held in his hand a sword, which he had just drawn from a jeweled scabbard. He jumped down, swinging the sword at her.

Mina screamed and fell to the ground in an attempt to walk backwards. The sword barely missed her, and she knew it was just by chance. Standing over her, she noticed that he couldn't have been more than a year older than she was.

"Which one is she?" a girl asked, coming around the side of the cabin, silvery blonde hair in large curls actually shining in the moonlight.

"Does it matter?" a second boy asked. He had black skin and highlights of red in his hair could be made out from the distant fire.

"I don't know," a second girl said, holding what appeared to be a list in hand. She lowered her cat-eye glasses as she peered at Mina. "Can you do me a favor and tell me your godly parent before we kill you?"

"Get away from her!" Ace yelled finally catching up. Mina looked back at him seeing that he had somehow obtained the sword he had had the night before, though she hadn't seen it earlier. She also noticed that others had abandoned the funeral, but were still mostly far off.

"Oh, and you'll be Ace," the girl with the list said. She smiled at the blonde boy. "You may kill him."

The mystery boy jumped over Mina and swung his sword at Ace, who barely reacted quick enough to dodge the attack. Ace swung his sword sloppily and completely missed the other guy.

"Then I'll take her," the other boy said, grabbing Mina off the ground.

"Hey, get your ruddy hands _off_ of me," Mina yelled and kicked at his shin, though it only provided in injuring her toe.

He laughed. "You're kind of cute, but luckily I don't care." With that, he grabbed a trident that was strapped to his back. "Prepare to be fish food."

Mina's eyes widened. "Let me go, you runt of an ogre!" With that, she yelled again, and this time, he did let go, as a blast of electricity shot out of her and shocked him off her and onto his back.

"No way, a daughter of Zeus," the girl with silvery blonde hair said. Mina was breathing deeply as the girl approached.

"Get away or I'll electrocute you," Mina said, backing away until her back hit the cabin.

"I don't think you can control it," she said.

"Vega!" the blonde boy said as the girl with silver hair was drawing a knife. Ace charged at the boy, but he barely glanced at the son of Aphrodite before a swift kick knocked Ace down.

The other girl grabbed the sword right out of Ace's hand. "You're going to hurt someone swinging that around blindly the way you are." She then looked at the blonde boy, clearly in charge of them. "We've got thirty seconds. Vega, if you could take one or two of them down."

The girl with the silver hair, drew a bow and a arrow from her quiver. "Which one?"

"To the right," the glasses girl said, a smile coming to her red lips. "Girl, black hair."

Mina looked where Vega was aiming and saw that it was Arianna. "Don't you dare," Mina said and pulled at Vega's hair. Vega yelled and released the arrow, which missed its mark, hitting a tree.

And then the tip of a sword was at her throat and she let go. "I wouldn't do that again," the blonde boy said. She released Vega's hair. The sword lowered but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his body. "That was very stupid of you," he said. "I was thinking of sparing you, but now..."

"Let her go," Ace said, standing. "Now."

The boy looked at Ace then laughed.

"I said, _let her go_!" Ace said again, more forcefully.

The boy released her and Mina ran away, scrambling behind Ace.

"He has Charmspeak," the girl with the glasses said. "Troy, kill him now."

"Don't!" Ace said as the boy with the trident took aim at them. He lightly pushed Mina back, and she understood, stepping back, but keeping her hand on Ace, so he knew when he could back away as well.

Then an arrow zipped past them, and Troy swung his trident to stop it from hitting him.

"We need to move, Vasilis," Vega said. She took aim again, but didn't know who to shoot.

"Just start shooting, Vega," the last girl said.

"Sophia, who?" Vega asked.

Sophia growled and grabbed an arrow head from her pocket. A pole extended from it. "Anyone that you want," she said.

With that, Vega released an arrow.

Sophia side stepped and an arrow sailed past right where she had been standing a moment before. And then she dodged another arrow. And another. Mina realized that Sophia knew where the arrows were going to be before they were released.

"Can we charge?" Troy asked.

"You're kidding," Mina said. "Four on all of them?"

"No, we're not," Vasilis said a smile on his face. Suddenly, he was moving fast... too fast. He ran at the line of approaching Half-Bloods.

Sophia turned her eyes on Mina and Ace and pointed her spear at them. "Have you ever heard of demigod kebab? It's when you've got two demigods skewered on one spear."

"But you're demigods yourselves," Mina said.

"Excuse me?" Vega gasped, placing a hand on her chest. "My mother was _not_ a goddess."

"Our parents, they were titans," Sophia said. She moved to throw her spear at them, but stopped. In that moment, Theo collided with them, taking all three of them to the ground. While Mina and Ace were sprawled, Theo rolled and was back on his feet in a moment, dagger in hand.

"Ah, my true enemy," Sophia said. "This should be fun. We shall see what prevails. Wisdom or forethought."

"Who are you?" Theo asked, his eyes focused on Sophia.

She smiled, stepping back, out of his immediate range and swept her hand through her short black hair. "Sophia Silas," she said. "And this," she indicated to the tip of her spear, "is the arrow head of the arrow that killed the vulture that ate my father's liver, every day, for a millennium. But that matters not. Because you are Theo Alden, Athena's current favorite son." She pointed at Theo. "Wisdom." And then at herself. "Forethought."

"Your father was Prometheus?" Theo sounded very surprised to Mina's ears.

"Prometheus _i_ _s_ my father," Sophia said. "At no point did he cease being my father."

"Prometheus the Titan?" Mina questioned. She turned to the battle. Nearest her, Vega ducked a swing of a sword before pulling an arrow, charging it with a silver light, and shooting it, hitting a boy in the shoulder knocking him off his feet. Past her, Troy plunged his trident into the ground, which brought forth a geyser of water, which he directed toward a charging Ingrid. And at the far end of the battle. Vasilis swung his sword slicing through the chest of a boy. Mina remembered that Theo had said that the Titans had been defeated a number of years ago. Apparently, the Titans had also had children.

"So you were the one that saved Ace from Jackie, I suppose," Sophia said to Theo. "We had such high hopes for her."

Mina stood up. "Stand back, Theo," she said.

"What are you doing?" Ace asked, watching her carefully.

"I'm about to show her why the Titans lost," Mina said. She could feel the electricity running through her. The sky rumbled.

Sophia laughed. "We've already established that you don't know what you're doing."

"I think I'm getting the hang of it," Mina said. She yelled and a bolt of lightning lit the battle. Though, it didn't strike Sophia, as Mina had meant it to. Nor did it strike Vega or Troy or Vasilis. Instead, it struck Mina herself. And her scream ripped through the air.


	8. Chapter 8: Ace

**Hey, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!**

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Ace

Ace's brown eyes widened as the lightning hit Mina. His initial instinct was to duck and cover. After all, it was lightning and it was five feet away from him. But then it stopped and he ran to catch Mina. Only, this time, she didn't fall. He stopped short from what he saw.

Sparks were coming off her body, as she stood, staring at Sophia. The daughter of Prometheus took a step back, barely holding onto her spear. Mina looked at Sophia, pulled her arms back, ready to strike.

But then she was hit by a powerful blast of water, knocking her back and off her feet. Ace ran to Mina, but her eyes were closed, having passed out. She was still breathing, but no longer sending off sparks.

Ace glared at Sophia and Troy, who was standing behind her. He stood up and charged at the two, even though he didn't have a weapon on hand or any experience fighting.

Clearly, they had not expected that, as he barreled into them knocking them both down. He reached for Troy's weapon, but Troy was quicker. Troy attempted to skewer Ace, but Ace managed to stop it, a hand between each of the prongs. He hissed, feeling a sting on his hand, and noticed that he was bleeding a bit.

"Give it up, pretty boy," Troy said, pushing harder on the weapon, forcing Ace back a few steps.

"Not likely," Ace said. He didn't have the strength to push back, but he could see behind Troy.

A red-headed woman with a club swung, hitting Troy's head, sending him scattering to the ground. Ace took a moment to breathe, before his eyes widened. One of Vega's arrows hit the woman in the shoulder and she cried out.

Time seemed to slow down as she fell to her knees. In fact, it seemed to slow down for everyone, except Vasilis who easily walked through the crowd. Ace could see a strain on the other boy's face, especially as he grabbed Vega and she was taken out of slow motion as well. They grabbed Troy and then Sophia. With one last look around and a pop, they were all gone, leaving nothing behind except death and injury. As soon as they were gone, time caught up.

"Rachel!" Ingrid cried out, running toward the woman despite a new limp. She was wet and bruised, but it appeared she wasn't letting that bother her.

The woman, Rachel, hissed in pain. "It's not that bad," she said. "Celestial Bronze doesn't effect me, but the shaft still entered."

"Celestial bronze?" Ace asked. His eyes widened when Ingrid grabbed the arrow in Rachel's back and pulled it out.

Ingrid wiggled her sword a could of times. "It's the magical metal used for demigod weapons. It doesn't harm mortals, like our lovely Oracle of Delphi here, but it's deadly and poisonous to Half-Bloods."

"So, if I got cut by that Trident...?"

Ingrid's eyes widened. "Oh gods, Ace, where?" Ingrid was at his side, checking his torso, legs, back.

He held up his left hand, which was bleeding a bit. "That's it?" Theo asked, coming by him. He was holding a charred piece of paper in his hand.

"What's that?" Ingrid asked, looking at Theo.

"The one girl dropped it," Theo said. He looked at it. "Mina may have..."

"Fried it?" Ace suggested. Then he remembered. "Mina, oh gods." He ran to the ground where Mina was still passed out. He placed a hand on her forehead noticing a thin sheen of sweat. "She's burning up."

"She over exerted herself," Theo said. "It should pass in time."

"Just in case we should get her into a bed," Ingrid said. Theo surveyed the rest of the battlefield, so Ace looked up. There were injuries, that was for sure. Mostly at the far end, where there had been many campers and only one of the four demi-Titans.

"Well, now we know what they look like," Ingrid said. "At least, better than we did. Yesterday, they were only shadows."

"And we know what type off powers they have," Theo said. He looked at Ingrid. "More campers should have arrived today." He handed her the paper. "It's a list. I think every camper is on there, and too many are crossed off."

Ingrid's eyes surveyed the list. Her eyes began to water. "All of yesterday's..."

"So, we're being hunted down?" Ace asked. He looked between the two standing over him and Mina. "They knew who I was."

"What do you mean they knew?" Theo asked. "Had you ever met any of them before?"

"No, but she said my name," Ace said. "The daughter of Prometheus."

"She knew who I was too," Theo said. "She said her name was Sophia Silas." He turned to Ingrid. "Any bells?"

"None," she said. "But, we need to contact everyone on this list that isn't crossed off."

"Vega and Troy," Ace said, scooping Mina into his arms. "The other girl was Vega, and the one with the Trident was Troy. I didn't catch the other guy's name. I mean, I heard it, but I can't remember."

"It's a wonder you remember what you do," Ingrid said, helping to support Mina's weight as he stood. "You should be in shock."

"I killed a Hellhound last night," Ace said. "My chauffeur turns out to be a satyr. A girl from a school function turned out to be a monster." He smiled at Ingrid. "I'm getting over it."

"Theo!" a voice called. "Ingrid! I need help."

The two turned and ran to a girl with black hair, kneeling over a body, pressing her hands down on what appeared to be a wound to the leg.

The little girl that had been following Theo all day walked past Ace. "Theo," she called out.

"In a moment Lisa," Theo said. He was tearing at his shirt while Ingrid helped Arianna press down on the leg.

"They came from behind," Lisa said. "They went past the Big House."

Theo stopped what he was doing. "The infirmary."

"I'll go check," Ace said, setting Mina down, though he didn't want to leave her. But the fight was over. She'd be safe with the crowd. He didn't want to risk bringing her away if the four Demi-Titans hadn't actually left.

"I'll go with you," Rachel said. The two ran in silence.

As they approached, they saw a bright shining light. It seemed that the sun was inside one of the rooms. The two shielded their eyes as they walked toward the room, but as soon as Rachel stepped in front of the door, the light dimmed, then died. Two boys collapsed, one at the door, and one at the window.

"Oh, are you two okay?" Rachel asked, stepping in. Ace followed, and then helped one of the boys up, onto a chair.

"Yeah," a young blonde girl said. She looked at Rachel. "I got a funny feeling, so Jaime gathered everyone in here, just in case. And then, they appeared again. Jaime and Don threw up solar shields. They've been holding them, in case they came back. They couldn't let it down, because they knew that once they did, they wouldn't be able to get them back up."

"They're gone," Rachel said. "For tonight, they are gone."

"Deaths?" one of the boys asked.

"A couple," Rachel said. "There are injuries. Ana, are you up for it?"

"I'll see what I can do," another blonde girl, this one about Ace's age, said. She stood up, grabbed a basket of medical supplies, and ran out to the fields.

"How did you know?" Ace asked the young girl.

The girl shrugged. "I just did," she said.

"She's a daughter of Apollo," Rachel said. "She doesn't get prophecies like I do, but she gets feelings, sometimes. We've learned to trust her feelings."

Ace nodded though it was weird for him. He was just beginning to not trust his own feelings.


	9. Chapter 9: Theo

**Hello to my faithful readers! I hope you're enjoying it so far. Anyway, it's prophecy time! And I had fun with this prophecy. So, read, review and prepare for more.**

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Theo

"We have a problem," Theo said. It was the early hours of the morning, yet he was still awake, and on his fourth cup of Dryad brewed coffee, which had more caffeine in it than an entire Starbucks store usually would have. He was in the war room, with Ingrid, who had just woken from a nap, Ace, Jaime, who was about to pass out, Rachel, and Mina, finally awake after having passed out from her own lightning. Technically speaking, Arianna was there too, but she was asleep in her chair, her face on the table. Everyone else was either asleep, or injured, but in other rooms or cabins.

It had taken time, but they had contacted every camper on the list that hadn't arrived at camp yet. All those that were crossed off were, indeed, dead. Those that had not been were all alive. They had told those that camp wasn't safe, and to either head to Camp Jupiter if they were close enough, or to go into hiding.

"What problem?" Jaime asked. "The fact that four well-trained psychos want us all dead?"

"I assume aside from that," Rachel said.

Theo nodded. "Yes. There are seven names on this list that are not campers here."

"That's seven demigods that they knew about but we didn't?" Ingrid asked her brow wrinkling in worry.

"What are their names?" Jaime asked.

Theo looked at the list. "Gemma Swift, Harper Watson, Gavin Franklin, Cole Arlington, Jocasta Jones, Paige Gwydion, and Aislinn Murphey."

Mina perked up. "I know her," she said.

Theo looked up. "What, is your whole school filled with Half-Bloods?"

"No, I mean, I don't _know_ her," Mina said. "She's Kassidy Murphey's daughter."

"Kassidy Murphey the diva?" Ingrid asked, sitting up straighter in surprise.

"Yeah," Mina said.

"Wait, wasn't she the one that literally only wore strings of pearls to that one award show?" Jaime asked.

"They were not real pearls," Mina said rolling her dark blue eyes. "And they were connected to strips of fabric so they wouldn't reveal anything. And yes."

"I love her songs," Arianna said without moving her face so it was difficult to determine if she was awake, or talking in her sleep in a way that fit into the conversation.

"So, one of our demigods is a pop star?" Jaime asked.

"The daughter of a pop star," Mina said.

"At least that explains why they haven't gone after her yet," Theo said. "She's in the public eye."

"And on the move a lot because she tours with her mother," Mina said.

"What about the other six?" Ingrid asked.

"Maybe they don't know where to find them," Arianna mumbled. She looked up. "That's possible, right?"

"It is," Theo said. He stood up and began to pace. "But we don't have any advantage about that now."

"We have their list," Ace said. "Doesn't that make a difference?"

"Sophia is the daughter of Prometheus," Theo said. He stopped pacing to look at Ace. "She is literally the daughter of thinking ahead. She probably has a copy of the list. Or maybe even has a photographic memory." He began pacing again.

"So, we have to assume they still have the list too," Ingrid said.

"Why don't we just google them?" Mina asked. "In this day in age, you can find pretty much anything on google, right?"

There was a moment of pause. "Chiron's computer has internet access," Jaime said.

Theo grabbed the list and headed to the office. The first name he typed in was Gemma Swift, but all he came up with were results for a "tooth lady." So he moved on. Harper Watson gave varied results, but all seemed to be at least thirty years or older in age. Gavin Franklin turned up results of an English Cricket player, and Cole Arlington didn't result in any humans. Paige Gwydion results were so varied and mostly in a different language (Welsh if Theo had to guess). But, Jocasta Jones finally got him some results; an Instagram account with a lot of pictures of San Fransisco.

When he returned to the War Room, everyone except Ingrid and Rachel had fallen to sleep. "Do you know where they are?" Ingrid asked, standing up.

"Well, no," Theo said as he slipped into a seat. "Googling didn't work so well. But I think Jocasta might be a Roman. She's from San Francisco. So, I'm thinking we should contact Camp Jupiter and-"

"We've tried, Theo," Rachel said. "You don't think we did that right away after the first attack? We haven't been able to reach them. I can't even get ahold of Percy."

Theo nodded. "Okay, then we'll have to go there ourselves," he said. "I'll take Cruz, if that's okay, and we'll bring her back."

"You can't be serious," Ingrid said. "I don't think we can survive another attack, Theo. You're the _best_ fighter we have. You _can't_ leave."

Theo leaned back in his chair. It would be impossible to bring all the campers with them. They'd attract too much attention. And Theo didn't feel safe sending anyone else on the mission.

"My house," Ace's voice mumbled. Theo, Rachel, and Ingrid all looked at Ace.

"Excuse me?" Ingrid asked.

"You said it was big enough to house the whole camp," Ace said, pushing himself up from the table. "It's not exactly a secluded neighborhood, but if someone can work little Mist magic... and Cruz will be there if you go with someone else. The front gate locks and has an alarm system."

"Okay, technically, yes, your house is big enough to house everyone," Theo said. "But there needs to be room for training."

"Clearly you didn't take a look at the backyard," Ace said. "You could host elephant races back there."

"And food," Theo said.

"I don't exactly spend a lot of my allowance," Ace said. "I'll lend Cruz my debit."

"What about your parents?" Rachel asked.

"Egypt," Ace said. "My dad is rarely ever home and my mother... or I guess step-mother, will also be in Egypt the whole summer as she knows I'm at camp."

"It does seem to make sense," Ingrid said.

"How do we get everyone over there?" Theo asked.

Rachel cocked her head. "Well, I do believe we would just need a bus."

"We should get everyone packed," Ingrid said. Then she yawned, but stopped mid-way, wincing from the cut on her face.

"Let's wait until morning," Theo said. "They need sleep."

"You need sleep too, Theo," Rachel said. "More than anyone if you're going to be traveling across the country to find Jocasta."

Theo nodded. "Okay, everyone, get to your cabins," he said, shaking Arianna awake. "We are going to have a long day tomorrow."

Those asleep all groaned as they woke up. They wiped sleep from their eyes, and then turned to Theo.

"Come on," Theo said. He began out of the room.

"Theo, wait," Rachel said, realizing he had left the list. However, when she touched it, she paused. He eyes began to glow and a green smoke encircled her body.

"What's happening?" Mina asked, suddenly very awake.

"It's a prophecy," Ingrid said, her voice having gone very soft.

"Three Half-Bloods will take the quest,  
Wisdom will fail a perilous test.  
Save five allies the Titans will try to take  
And the one who will determine Olympus's fate."

There was a pause as the prophecy finished. Before they all sat down. A new issue on their minds.

Ingrid grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling down. Theo noticed that she skipped the second line of the poem.

"Five allies?" Arianna questioned. "But there are seven names." She looked around at the others. "Does that mean that we're not going to save two in time?"

"Did anyone catch the second line?" Ingrid asked. "It sounded fuzzy to me. I didn't catch it."

"Same here," Jaime said. "Almost like there were several being said at once."

"I heard it," Mina said. "She will rely upon Love's Blessed... whatever that means." Ingrid began to scribble down the line until Ace interrupted her.

"That's not what I heard," Ace said. "I heard..." he closed his eyes. "Beauty's son will have no rest." He opened his eyes. "That refers to me, right?"

"I heard something different," Theo admitted. He wasn't about to offer up the line. "But it referred to Wisdom..."

Ingrid placed the paper and pen down. She then looked at Arianna. "I heard fuzz," the daughter of Hermes said.

"Then I think it's obvious who has to go on this quest," Ingrid said.

Theo groaned. "We still need to prepare for tomorrow," he said. "So, let's get ready. Wake up is at seven."

"It's nearly four," Mina said.

"Then don't stay awake long," Theo said.

"You're the one that needs rest," Ingrid said, placing a hand on Theo's shoulder.

"I'll be fine," he said. "I'll sleep on the way to Ace's. We'll get everyone set, provide some sort of protection, and then set off from there."

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 **Hope you liked it! Review to make me happy!**


	10. Chapter 10: Mina

Mina

How they managed to get a bus to the camp overnight, Mina wasn't sure. It was better than a school bus, but not so nice as a greyhound. It was also a double decker, which she had never seen in her life. She climbed aboard, and then took the seat farthest in back on the first level. At least, she reasoned, she'd be alone. She had spent too much time the day before repeating that, yes, she could control lightning, and yes, she was Zeus's daughter.

Granted, _controlling_ lightning wasn't quite the right word. It came to her... when she needed it. However, zapping herself the night before had _not_ been her plan.

She was perfectly fine that all the others were climbing up to the second deck to watch the views from above. She rolled her eyes at how silly they were all being.

And then Ace was sitting next to her, and Arianna next to him.

"May I help you?" Mina asked.

"Can't I sit next to you?" Ace asked. "Aren't we friends?"

"Friends don't try to sell one another's secrets at a not-so-secret auction," Mina said. "Nor do they try to snap photos of them while they are changing, or Charmspeak my parents into forcing me to go to a camp where I nearly got killed on my first night."

"Honestly, they would have found you eventually and would have definitely killed you," Arianna said. Mina just shot her a glare.

Ace just smiled at her. "Aw, come on, you know you love me," Ace said.

"No, all I know is that your goal in life is to destroy me," Mina said.

Ace furrowed his brow. "I would never try to destroy you, Mina," he said. "Or do anything to hurt you."

"Maybe not physically," Mina said. "But the fact that several of your lacrosse teammates knew what the password to my facebook account was tells me that you don't respect me or my privacy."

Ace smiled while Arianna snickered. "You made it too easy," he said. "They didn't do much."

"They put me in a relationship with Marvin," Mina said. "That was _nawt_ acceptable."

Mina huffed, and stood up walking up a few rows. She took a seat across the aisle from Theo, who was laying down with his arm over his eyes. It seemed he was finally trying to get some sleep.

"You know, I really do think he cares about you more than you give him credit," Theo said, not moving.

"Excuse me?" Mina asked, looking over at him.

He lifted his arm for a moment to look at her. "I know you're both an only child... or at least you've been raised that way," Theo said.

"I _am_ an only child," Mina corrected Theo.

"On your mortal side," Theo agreed. "But, to him, you're like a little sister, or something to that effect. It's fun to tease you, but he'll never do anything that would ever cause you real harm. And he'll protect you from danger."

"As if," Mina huffed.

"Isn't that exactly what he did last night?" Theo asked. "Run straight into danger to try to protect you?"

Mina glanced at Theo, but had no argument. So, instead, she looked away and before she knew it, Theo had closed his eyes. Mina leaned against the window and looked at Theo as the ride continued, trying to understand him a little better.

He was handsome, she realized, but tense. She had been too annoyed to really look at him when they first met, and he had been tense and worried since they had arrived to camp. But, as he fell asleep, she noticed a softness to his face that she hadn't noticed before, and it occurred to her, he wasn't much older than she was. Just a teenager, and already had so many younger kids, a whole camp of kids, looking to him for guidance. Even those a bit older than he was, like Jaime and Ingrid kept turning to him.

It looked as if he hadn't touched his dark brown hair since they first met, and with all the excitement and danger, it had become unruly, but perfectly so at the same time. And, for someone his age, she noticed he was a lot more well-sculpted than most, his frame containing muscles that most boys didn't get until they were men.

So, she sat and watched him, because it was more intriguing to her than hearing Ace talk and Arianna giggle.

They pulled to a stop before Mina realized, and the bus turned off. Mina was a little shocked and straightened. She looked out her window to see the familiar neighborhood she had grown up in. She heard the kids on the upper part of the bus gasping and murmuring in awe.

Mina stood up and lightly shook Theo. "We're here," she said. Theo didn't groan, didn't try to go back to sleep, but he did roll his shoulders and stretch his arms, displaying that his orange shirt was probably a little bit too small, though she wasn't complaining. She caught a momentary glimpse at his flat stomach and appreciated that his shirt framed his strong shoulders.

It took Mina a moment to step out of the crowd exiting the bus, but they all stood back from the gate. As Ace was still stuck on the bus, she stepped forward and entered the code on the keypad which clicked the gate to unlock. She pushed it open and walked in, leading the way. She also figured that she should make sure the alarm system didn't go off when kids began entering the house.

"Welcome to Hotel de Menefer," Ace said, encouraging people to enter. "Come on, everyone."

"Is this really a hotel?" One kid asked, gazing up at the mansion.

"No," Mina said. She turned to Ace. "You might want to mark some of the rooms as off limits."

"Why would I do that?" He stepped out of the way so that more could enter.

"Oh, I don't know, unless you want people sleeping in your parent's bedroom," Mina said. "Or _your_ bedroom."

Ace nodded. "You make a good point," he said.

"Do you have any air mattresses?" Jaime asked, walking up beside the two.

"I believe so," Ace said. "Camping gear is probably in the cellar."

"I'm hungry," one little girl said.

"Are you sure we're going to be safe?" Another boy asked.

Ace sighed. Apparently, this would be harder than he had thought.

"Okay, everyone, slow down," Ingrid called. "We're safer here than at Camp for the meantime. We will get food, and then make sure there are enough beds for everyone to sleep in."

"Kitchen is this way," Mina said, and people began to follow her. Walking in, however, she wondered if there would be enough food for everyone. Ingrid was among those that came in behind her. The two began going through cabinets looking for something aside from cookies. Ingrid began to distribute plastic cups to the younger kids that had followed them in. They'd have to deal with water for the mean time.

"Spaghetti," Mina said, walking out of the large pantry with three boxes of spaghetti.

Ingrid sighed. "Nothing more nutritious?"

"You're welcome to look, but unless everyone wants to cook their own different meal..."

Ingrid frowned a bit. "Cruz will go shopping today," Mina said. "After we know everything we need."

Inrid looked Mina over while she was waiting for the water to boil for the spaghetti. "You've known Ace for a long time, right?"

"As long as I can remember," Mina said, picking at some baby carrots she found in the fridge to nibble on instead of waiting for the spaghetti. She put some into a bowl for the little kids to nibble on as well. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Ingrid said. She smiled. "Anyway, you'll be leaving today for your quest. The Hephaestus boys brought some extra gear and I think you should find a weapon and try to train at least once before you leave."

Mina rolled her dark blue eyes. "I have lightning," she said. "Why do I need any other weapon?"

"Can you actually control the lightning?" Ingrid asked. "Did you mean to be struck by it last night?"

"Okay, so I'm not perfect with it yet," Mina said. "I'll get better. I always do."

"Still, using your powers so much isn't necessarily a good thing," Ingrid said. "It wears someone down and we don't have any Ambrosia to send with you." She looked at Mina. "The line that you heard when Rachel gave the prophecy, it has to do with you. And I suspect Ace as well. I just don't want you to cost him his life, Mina."

"I'm not going to kill him," Mina said.

"I understand that," Ingrid said. "But, you need to be able to protect yourself because he can't always be there for the both of you." She looked down at the water. "There are four of them. I doubt you'll complete your quest without running into them. Theo can't fight all of them. You and Ace will need to fight as well." She was quiet for a moment. "Ace is my brother. I don't want him to die."

"Neither do I," Mina said. "But, let me assure you, Ace is a resilient one."


End file.
